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By the same token hope he does not mind if I decide to spend an afternoon with one of my girlfriends..

As far as what I am not willing to compromise about goes: 1. What food is in our our home 2. He has to live with my cats and does not mind the time I spend daily grooming themAnything else is negotiable.

When two hearts are opened to be touched with each other's company, and understand what means, the most to each other, then happiness shall rain and I'll be over for dinner! lol meow

Toilet lid down, any grown man too stupid to put the lid down so nothing falls into the toilet is too stupid to date. Seriously, I'm not talking about the seat up or down for either, I mean the lid, the part that mean we both have to open and shut it to use it, the part that keeps things and babies and pets from falling in. Leaving the toilet lid up is just too damn dumb for words, deal breaker. And the toilet paper goes over the top but I can live with re-adjusting that, lid up, cannot work with that.

Camping trip with the guys, no problem, unless you are a liar and really doing something else but time away from each other works for me, I love my time alone.

I wouldn't change myself, we work well together with our little idiosyncrasies or we don't, I"m not looking to change or to change someone.

I want to go on a camping/fishing trip with just my brother and another male friend... would you allow that?

Having individual interests are a bonus for a relationship... fish away!!!

What are those things you just wouldn't "compromise" about yourself?

In a really good relationship, everything is negotiable and you do it without even weighing what is being traded.

You do something that is out of the normal for you because you like seeing the other person smile, you like hearing their laugh and a thank-you kiss is the most treasured gift you could receive. It's not a matter of what would change, everything would... it's how open a person is to changing for that someone...

^^^^ I agree Ms Leona. Now, personally, I don't think EVERYTHING in a relationship is "negotiable", most everything can be understood/accepted by both parties. I think the core value thing is the key to non-negotiable. My partner doesn't have to share every core value I have, nor I hers... however, she and I should both know these values of the other and respect them. There just might be those core values that are in such conflict with mine (or hers) that the relationship is not worth pursuing, not as a LTR, at least. Hopefully, I mellowed enough that these will be few and far between.

I'm as stubborn as a boulder. You can push and push and push, and I will never budge. I suppose this is why I generally look at long-term relationships as impractical. I know there's too much about myself my partner wouldn't be able to tolerate, just as there are many things I may not be able to tolerate about him. Asking either person to change is a futile effort, and would only result in a bitter, miserable arrangement of co-existence. Long-term relationships are more workable if there's a sufficient amount of space. i.e., he has his own place, and I have mine; we only meet on ocassion, and don't live around each other 24/7. Then again, I suppose a mutual living arrangement would work, if his behavior and mannerisms were very similar to mine.

So, assuming adjustments are changes, there is some change required, but the degree of change is what would be at issue, as some said, they cannot change who they are, or their core values, but they may have to change certain behaviors or habits they enjoyed when alone.Agree?

Agree Hallie, as nothing is perrrrfect in this world yet I believe when two love,respect each other,that both know they have a very special union the adjustments hopefully will be done with little fan fare but the common good is paramount.And yes, it's not simplistic as there are things that should be understood before ," the ties are bound".But let me say if you ever fall in love with the one, the adjustment should be a pleasure then a sacrifice. And the cores values are the most important in a successful relationship in the long run... Do I make sense? lol

The core values between two people is key without that then it's just smoke mirrors.

To find someone that believes in like goals and aspirations, then that's half the fan fare now,and it's just how far our hearts are open to take the plunge.......it's still scary butthat's the chance we all take. now where were my reading glasses..........lol

Agree Hallie, as nothing is perrrrfect in this world yet I believe when two love,respect each other,that both know they have a very special union the adjustments hopefully will be done with little fan fare but the common good is paramount.And yes, it's not simplistic as there are things that should be understood before ," the ties are bound". But let me say if you ever fall in love with the one, the adjustment should be a pleasure then a sacrifice. And the cores values are the most important in a successful relationship in the long run... Do I make sense? lol

I had been dating a man for about four months, EVERYTHING was bright and shiny and new about the whole relationship (except we could never agree on Sarah Palin, hee, hee). However, as time went on I found that maybe there were things about each of us that were an issue for one another. He was a former white knight and me, being a I have two hands I can do it myself type of girl. Each of those roles started to strain the relationship and we decided mutually that perhaps it was best that we part ways. No argument, at the time it was best for each of us, no ill-will just went our separate ways. That was about five weeks ago.

When the split happened, I was stunned, because during my time with him I had been happier and more content than anytime I can remember since my marriage. Yet, I knew in the back of my mind there was a mold he had for me, and part of me would never be able to be me.

Well, this week he wrote to me, asking how I was and basically told me that he missed me. He also told me that he had realized that he had tried to control me because in his past relationships he was always in control because he was always saving somebody and just didn't know any other way to behave in a relationship. He thought the more he tried to rein me in (save me), the more I tried to break free, but he realized I wasn't trying to break free, I was just trying to be me, the kind of woman he had hoped for, but had no idea how to be with.

That admission on his part was humbling to me because it caused me to look back at my own behavior within our time together and I realized that it would not have killed me to maybe LET him help me, let him show me his feelings for me by his actions, maybe just let him know that I did NEED him. And maybe I should have just let him be him with me.

I think we both made the same mistake; we were trying so hard not to loose "Me" instead of trying to build an "Us." Which can only be done through mutual understanding, acceptance and maybe most importantly, the desire and willingness to move forward in spite of our differences.

Looking back he and I had so much in common, we did share the same values and most of the same beliefs. As for our differences, he was kind of my straight man to my goofball, but to make him laugh made me happier than I can say. He was ULTRA conservative in his views, while I sometimes think more with my heart than my head. However, in some ways, his ultra conservative views helped me discipline some of my beliefs and my compassion helped him be more accepting. So while we were different, our individual differences helped each other become more evolved and maybe, just maybe, better people.

Common values are essential to any successful relationship, but I think it might actually be our differences and our willingness to accept and respect the differences in one another that draw us closer together, that creates that stronger bond and instills loyalty, and makes us love one another just the way we are.

Common values are essential to any successful relationship, but I think it might actually be our differences and our willingness to accept and respect the differences in one another that draw us closer together, that creates that stronger bond and instills loyalty, and makes us love one another just the way we are.

You said a lot here Mixbex and what I see from it is, your white knight may be just that. But like you said " to be loved just the way we are" is the everlasting key.... ,a near perfect love that in dears and does not hinder ones grow but in the same sentence lets one breath out loud without control but grow for their common good in each other's love together.

Yet, I knew in the back of my mind there was a mold he had for me, and part of me would never be able to be me.

To control or mold you can never be the way to you heart or for anyone else, for that matter.And yes,there is a difference in what binds two people together,or pulls two apart....

So that's the rub as I see it. And all the oil in the world won't stop that friction,in what one heart and mind feels is out of the ordinary to be happy and content as one.

To love me as I am, can be the greatest compliment and if it's not broke,don't fit it!And if its not perfect,don't worry cuz none of us are either! lolCheers!